A couple of significant accomplishments could take place tonight … if the Nationals can beat the Cardinals. On an individual level, Gio Gonzalez could earn his 17th win of the season, matching Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto for the MLB lead.

On a team level, the Nationals could notch win No. 80 tonight. That would match last year's total, fall just one shy of the club record (set in the inaugural 2005 season) and just two shy of the first winning record by a D.C. ballclub since 1969.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves and look past tonight's game, which features a star-studded pitching matchup between Gonzalez and Adam Wainwright. Davey Johnson goes with his regular lineup, the only change from last night behind the plate (Kurt Suzuki starts).

My barbershop group helped gather the patients before an appearance by Nats players and Screech at the National Rehabilitation Hospital today. Clipp, Storen, and Desi showed up, looking relaxed and happy. No media around as far as I could tell, just players giving back to the community. The first gathering was a fairy small group of children. Many had Nats jerseys on and they had put up drawings and stickers all over. Several of the drawings said "Natinals". Somehow when it's in a kids handwriting, it doesn't seem bad at all.

Thanks MicheleS – really good article and I hope he continues his success with us the rest of the season. I realize a couple of posters here have some issues with Kilgore's writing but I think we are lucky to have so many good people following our team. Amanda, Mark and Adam really seem to "get it" and the blogs on the left of the Insider are also terrific reading at times. I especially like National Prospects and you should see how Peric behaves himself over there.OK, off to the park early today – Looking to keep wearing my new red Curly W for a 4th day tomorrow!Go Nats!! Score First!! Go Playoffs!!

My erudite remarks, thoughtfully composed and carefully typed, didn't get posted last night, even though I pressed the PUBLISH button. I use a Google account. Did anyone else have this problem? [I'm presuming, of course, that this comment gets posted.]

MicheleS said… Xavier Nady is getting called up by the Giants. Anyone know what happened to Ankiel? August 31, 2012 3:51 PM _____________________________Ankiel is still getting paid by Ted Lerner and is sitting at home still waiting for the phone to ring.Personally I would take Ankiel over Nady. All a team would have to pay on either player is the prorated portion of the league minimum and Nats still pick up the remainder.

Ghost Of Steve M. said… HenRod won't be back this year after a bone chip was removed. If roster spot is needed, could be moved to 60 Day DL August 31, 2012 4:31 PM ________________________________Couldn't they move him to the 60 Day DL to move Zach Duke to the 40 man and call him up?

MicheleS said… Henry had BONE chips removed! Well that explains alot August 31, 2012 4:43 PM ______________________________It may not explain anything. Many pitchers pitch through bone chips as it is painful and doesn't affect their accuracy or velocity.

“I’m watching how Gio [Gonzalez] or [Ross] Detwiler is pitching these hitters,” Michael Gonzalez said. “And that’s what these guys are doing. This guy swung at this pitch and this guy swings at this pitch.”_____________________________________Nice to read our lefty is into the game.

Gonat said… MicheleS said… Henry had BONE chips removed! Well that explains alot August 31, 2012 4:43 PM ______________________________It may not explain anything. Many pitchers pitch through bone chips as it is painful and doesn't affect their accuracy or velocity. August 31, 2012 4:49 PM You may be right gonat, but if it were me, I might be thinking more about the pain than my release point during my follow through. Guess it depends on Hrod's pain tolerance.

Ok, I just some fun…Went back and looked at posts from the days leading up to Opening Day to see what all the brilliant folks in here (myself included) predicted for this season.Wow. Following the post of the media predictions (Mark, Kilgore, Comak, et al) there were some incredible rants about "Desi in the All-Star Game?? Are you serious??" and Jayson Werth hitting .290?? (This was Ladson's prediction….he's currently hitting .305)Some real beauties like "Lidge will turn out to be Rizzo's best pickup" (oops) "Harper will have little to no impact this year" (yeah, right)Most had the team in the mid-80s for wins, hoping to make maybe the second wildcard. One poster nailed it though, saying the Phils would collapse and "the real dogfight will be between the Nats and the Braves". I had predicted 88-74 and with 32 games to go, I could not be more thrilled to be wrong.I didn't bother to look at predictions for Morse and Storen, none of us knew what was really going on there, in fact Mark's post had Morse going on rehab and joining the team two weeks into the season.What a fun season this has been and will continue to be

Thanks for the story link, Michele. Also, your boss sounds like a swell person who might be interested in knowing that I really like baseball, too. What? :-)Looking forward to watching Gio and the guys on tv tonight. Gotta go grab some dinner now.

Good news that Henry Rodriguez won't be pitching again this year. Bad news: now nobody will trade for him. Don't think his bone chips (they were in his elbow? Not his head?) had anything to do w/ his performance in the majors. I'm not saying anything about the minors. But he was chuckin' to the backstop when he was supposedly "hot."

Regarding Henry Rodriguez: Whether the bone chips contributed to his meltdown or not, let's all hope that the surgery and rehab process allows him to make a fresh start in either winter ball or at Spring Training. If the problems were physical, let's hope they get fixed and he comes back as a 100-MPH pitcher with better (he'll never have perfect) control. And even if the problems were more mental than physical, then the surgery/rehab could still give him the opportunity to do a complete mental/physical reset and resume his career. Because I, at least, still remember that incredible inning he threw against Atlanta last September and would love to see a return of that particular Mr. Rodriguez in 2013.

"Because I … still remember that incredible inning … against Atlanta … and would love to see a return of that particular Mr. Rodriguez in 2013." That, my friend, is why you have a DVR: you can see it there, and only there, any time.

Play ball and hope for the best. Yes the Nats are going to shut down (arguably)their best pitcher. Deal with it.The bonus is if they advance in the play offs without SS how scary are they going to be next year?

I'm in sec 110 tonight and actually seem to have cell coverage. Great to be back at Nats Park although it is pretty freakin' hot (PFH). The T shirt tonight is sponsored by American Univ. and says "Nats Wonk". I sure hope DC Wonk is here and got one. Great 1st inning. Way to score first and put the pressure on.

We watched the Cards- Rangers Game 6 DVD this afternoon. It was fun to see EJax on the rail in the dugout the way he is for us, and joking with Carpenter. Then I began to notice that the Rangers were really game face in their dugout (Improper phrasing but I hope you know what I mean). They were serious and stoic (except for Elvis) and hanging on, even when they were ahead and only 1 strike away from winning. The Cards were laughing and watching and celebrating all the good stuff. Not scared. Made me realize that Davey's meeting, when he got them to laugh and relax, was genius. I love that the crowd is screaming for Gio!

Looks like the Kid wants to reopen the NL ROY debate.Harper is a gem at 19. Rendon and Goodwin are learning in a challenging AA league. Meyer looked great.Matt Skole was just named MVP of the Sally League. Giolito will be back at 18 years old.The young talent is really exciting.P.S. He gets no fanfare, but keep an eye on OF Brandon Miller. The Nats picked him in the fourth round of this year's draft out of Samford, where he led Division I in home runs as a senior. In his first 25 games at Auburn he has 4 homers, 3 triples and an OPS over .900.Wouldn't it be great if Rizzo's men found a Baby Hammer?

Re Matt Skole (sort of): I saw his brother (Jake?) play the other night; he was a first-round draft choice by the Rangers a couple of years ago. He's younger than Matt by a year or two, but didn't go to college so he started pro ball earlier. He apparently was demoted from full-season A ball to short-season A (I guess that counts as a demotion). Big, rangy, third baseman. Didn't get a hit, but hit a couple with authority.

I said the other day that against the Philthies, we were playing BAD baseball. Last three games – good, NATS baseball. Everyone looks crisp, no one pressing. Personally, I credit the Davey factor.Not that there's no room for improvement – Morse needs to find his groove, and his thumb needs to heal. Desi still needs to get his swing/timing back as well. Other than that, I'm OK with how they are playing.

He gets no fanfare, but keep an eye on OF Brandon Miller. The Nats picked him in the fourth round of this year's draft out of Samford, where he led Division I in home runs as a senior.He doesn't bat left-handed so he isn't as interesting as Skole who could end up at first base for that reason. Right now they have Keyes plus Destin Hood. Outfield looks rather full and he's a college player in Auburn he still has to prove it translates to Hagerstown and Potomac.

Haven't seen anyone posting Tom Millone and D. Norris stats lately…Milone is doing far more than any A;s fan expected. He has to be considered the defacto ace of the staff dude! Doh! And Norris is a an OBP machine but doubtless they will miss Suzuki's defense because that was never Norris' strongest suit.The trade benefited both sides. Mostly Oakland will benefit in the near future. But a power pitching left-hander like Gio is worth the additional cost. Particularly with both Solis and Purke with injury issues and Rosenbaum more of a control / pitch-to-contact pitcher like Lannan. They really don't have anyone else with that kind of upside that looks as ready as Gio except Detwiler who appears to finally be coming around.

natsfan1a said… That was awesome! As they showed fan's cheering Gio as he headed back to the dugout after the 8th, he was so focused and serious, I said "He doesn't think he's done yet. He's going back out again in the 9th unless somebody physically restrains him." Loved the smiley face on the up-ended Gatorade bucket during the postgame interview. Perfect for Gio.